Fishing Report

Free fishing

If you don’t have a fishing license, you won’t have to buy one to fish in the Northwest this weekend.

You can fish without a license Saturday and Sunday in Washington and Oregon and Saturday in Idaho. Montana doesn’t offer free fishing, but fisheries officials urge anglers to take non-anglers fishing.

Sportsmen’s organizations and state and federal agencies have planned fishing clinics and outings.

Clinics will be offered at the following locations Saturday in Idaho’s Panhandle: Coeur d’Alene, Ponderosa Springs Golf Course, 8-11 a.m.; St. Maries area, Anderson Ranch, 5 miles south of St. Maries on Highway 3, 9 a.m.-noon; Mullan, Mullan fish hatchery, 9 a.m.-noon; Sagle, Round Lake State Park, 9 a.m.-noon; Bonners Ferry, Lions Club pond, 9 a.m.-noon; and Priest Lake, Ledgewood picnic area, 9 a.m.-noon.

The Fins & Feathers shop at Coeur d’Alene will conduct a kids’ fishing tournament from 8 a.m.-noon Saturday at Fernan Lake. The store will give fishing poles, coolers and other prizes to youngsters who catch the biggest trout, pike, perch, crappies and catfish. The tourney is for kids up to 15 years old.

For information on fishing, call the Spokane office of the Washington Department of Fish and Game, (509) 456-4082, or the Coeur d’Alene office of the Idaho Fish and Game, (208) 769-1414.

Trout, Washington

Numerous lakes in the Spokane region still hold enough trout for fair to good fishing. The time has arrived, however, when some of the best fishing is early and late.

Here are potentially good fishing spots for all anglers interested in pan-sized trout: Fishtrap, Badger, Williams, West Medical, Ellen, Marshall, Sacheen, Deep and the cutthroat lakes east of Colville.

Numerous lakes in Okanogan and Douglas counties hold pan-sized trout. Among the best producers are Alta, Conconully lake and reservoir, Patterson, Pearrygin and Jameson.

Specially managed waters

Some proficient lure fishermen hooked and released large numbers of Lahontan cutthroat at Grimes Lake in Douglas County when the lake opened Saturday, biologist Ken Williams reported. Two men, he said, hooked and released 36. Many, however, complained fishing was slow. Williams said the largest Lahontan he measured was 23 inches. The lure fisherman who caught the fish said he released one that weighed 8 to 9 pounds.

Because the lake opened on a Saturday, pressure was heavy. Williams counted 77 vehicles at the lake at 8 a.m.

Damselfly and dragonfly nymphs, Callibaetis mayflies and chironomids are hatching at most of the selective fishery and fly fishing-only lakes of Eastern Washington. The fishing can be tough, however, during hot weather.

Amber is the best choice in the Spokane area. It holds plenty of 12- to 18-inch rainbow and cutthroat trout. Fly fishers say they’ve had good luck at times, but the fishing often can be frustrating.

Medical holds some big brown trout. Most anglers troll big fly patterns, including Woolly Buggers, leeches and Muddler Minnows.

Fishing has been slow at both Bayley and McDowell, fly fishing-only lakes north of Spokane. Bayley still is high and the rainbows and brook trout are scattered over a wide area, making fishing difficult.

Fly fishers say they’ve had only fair luck at Browns and Long fly fishing-only lakes.

Fishing has been slow at Lenice and Nunnally and only a little better at Dry Falls, selective fishery lakes where damselflies are hatching.

Little Ell and Chopaka in the Okanogan are among the best trout producers in Eastern Washington. The rainbows in both are 12 to 18 inches. Chopaka, a fly fishing-only lake, has been crowded since the Callibaetis mayflies hatch started.

Trout, Idaho

North Idaho’s cutthroat streams are still too high for good fishing, Ross Fister of the Fins & Feathers said. The Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe are fairly clear, but running fast.

Fister said several Panhandle lakes are yielding good catches of trout. Among the best are Kelso, Round, Fernan, Hauser, Hayden and Priest. The biggest fish are in Hayden and Priest.

Anglers, fishing from shore and boats, are hooking rainbow-cutthroat hybrids in Hayden, and mackinaw trout at Priest.

Fishing at Priest, Fister said, has been hot, with anglers catching lots of 7- to 8-pound macks and a few to 13 pounds.

Northern pike

Pike fishing is still slow at Lake Coeur d’Alene, but is good at most of the lakes adjacent to the lower Coeur d’Alene River, Fister said.

Spiny rayed species

Fish after the sun has set if you want to catch good-sized crappies and bluegills at Sprague. Monica Mielke of the Sprague Lake Resort said anglers who have done well have fished in water that’s 10 feet deep and fished in the evenings.

It’s possible the crappies and bluegills will be along the shoreline this weekend. The water has warmed enough to attract the fish to spawning areas.

Most knowledgeable anglers are catching lots of walleyes at the lake, she said. One in 10 walleyes hooked is a keeper - 18 inches or longer.

Best crappie fishing in Idaho’s Panhandle is at Swan, Black and Cave lakes, Fister said.

Chinook salmon

Trollers are continuing to catch chinooks at Lake Coeur d’Alene, primarily in the north end, Fister said. Most are trolling helmeted herring, No. 11 floating Rapalas and other lures from the surface down to 20 feet.

Kokanee

If you want to catch kokanee in the Spokane region, try Chapman Lake. The fishing probably will be faster there than at Loon Lake.

Even the experts at Loon are having trouble catching more than two or three kokanee a day, Joe Haley of Granite Point Resort said. The 16- to 19-inch kokanee not only aren’t plentiful, they’re scattered throughout the lake. Haley said most anglers are letting out three to four colors of leaded line and trolling Fisher flies and Kokanee Glow lures baited with maggots and corn.

Best fishing for kokanee is at Koocanusa Lake in northwestern Montana. Nevin Zugg, owner of the Koocanusa Resort, said trollers are catching 20-fish limits that average 11 inches in 2 to 3 hours of fishing.

He also said fishing for Kamloops rainbows up to 15 pounds is the best he’s seen. Most are fishing Rapalas and other lures off planer boards.

It’s possible to hook four or five Kamloops rainbows in the 5- to 15-pound class during a day’s trolling, he said.

Kokanee fishing was still slow this week at Lake Mary Ronan. Mark Thomas of Camp Tuffit said trollers are catching only two to three kokanee a day. The lake is still cold and high, he said.

Montana fishing

It’s the peak of the spring runoff in the Missoula area. Rock Creek and the Bitterroot and Clark Fork rivers are high and muddy, a guide for Streamside Anglers said.

The rivers are starting to drop and clear, he said, but they won’t be in good enough condition this weekend for even fair fishing. Missoula-area stream fishermen are fishing the small, high tributaries of the rivers.

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